Committed to a good cause

Men in dark leather jackets on motorbikes that make a throaty growl – and pink cuddly toys. Sometimes you come across images in the context of the Church that at first glance don’t seem to go together. But they do and there is a good reason for it all.

Pastoral visit with obstacles

Apostle Antoine Katalayi travelled through his working area in the south-eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 5 to 19 November to visit and look after his brothers and sisters. The Apostle started in Kananga, from where he continued on to Bilomba to conduct the divine service for the departed. He continued to Masuika, where he had a meeting with the local ministers and conducted a divine service. At his next stop in Riza, his programme was the same.

There was heavy rain in the region at the time, making it almost impossible for him to continue on to Luiza. The Lulua River was very swollen due to the rain, so the ferry had difficulty crossing. The Apostle helped to dislodge the ferry from the silt so that in the end he was able to make it to Luiza and conduct divine services there on 15 and 16 November. More than 800 people took part.

More than 500 wooden crosses for churches in southern Germany

The New Apostolic Church Southern Germany commissioned the carpentry workshop of Mariaberg to make 512 wooden crosses for the sacristies of its churches, thereby supporting young people with disabilities and social disadvantages who are being trained in the carpentry workshop. Five wooden crosses were made from fir wood, while the remaining 507 wooden crosses were made from oak wood. The crosses now adorn the sacristies of New Apostolic churches in the south of Germany.

When cuddly toys ride motorbikes

The NAC bikers from Pretoria and Cape Town, South Africa, collected toys and money for the Annual Toy Run. As every year, the group of New Apostolic bikers rode through the cities with cuddly toys, games, and books before presenting their donations to this year’s beneficiaries. This time it was the Algoa Frail Care Centre, the oncology unit of the provincial hospital, and the St Francis Hospice. This year’s Toy Run took place on 11 November. The next day, Sunday, the group attended the divine service in Rosedale-Uitenhage, where they donated 5,000 rand to needy congregations. Apostle Gerome Mintoor expressed his gratitude to the bikers.

Clean drinking water in N’dadibikro

A visit by representatives of the Jörg Wolff Foundation to N’dadibikro in Ivory Coast was welcomed with great joy. On 4 November, the village received a water pump after years of having to deal with water scarcity. The foundation had financed the pump with help from the New Apostolic Church so that Apostle Kouadio Konan Jules was also there for its inauguration. He conducted a divine service in N’dadibikro based on the theme of Christian love. The well was inaugurated in a special ceremony.